Once upon a time, I spent five minutes stirring together melted coconut oil, sucanat, and oats in order to top an Apple Crisp. (I was making it dairy free for a friend.) While making it, I didn’t measure my ingredients (surprise, surprise) so when it came time to top my apples, I had too much topping. Oh well. I’d store them for later. Into a jar they went (surprise, surprise).
Later, my 13-year old came into the kitchen and saw the jar of apple crisp topping, about which he said, “Ooh, what kind of granola is this?” It was at that moment that I realized that all we had to do was stir in coconut flakes, almonds, dried fruit – whatever we wanted – and we’d have granola.
It was in the next moment that I decided that I might make granola like this every single time because it only took five minutes and it was too easy.
Friends, I present to you:
5-Minute Stove-Top Granola
Make it on the fly. Make it ahead of time. Serve it with add-in options. It will be one of the easiest breakfast or snack options ever.
- 4 cups whole oats
- ¼ cup sucanat
- 1 cup coconut oil
- Melt coconut oil in a medium-sized pan on the stove.
- Remove from heat and stir in oats and sucanat.
- Serve immediately, or allow it to sit a while to dry somewhat. We like it both ways.
Nuts like almonds, pecans, or walnuts
Coconut flakes
Dried fruit like cranberries, raisins, or blueberries
Chocolate Chips
When you make granola this way, you can set it out with a variety of add-in options and have a Granola Bar. (Like my play on words there?) This is wonderful for people with food allergies or simply to appease people’s taste preferences.
Love it! So easy, so obvious! Why didn’t anyone think of this before? Thankyou! This will become a go-to recipe because standard granola is such a fuss.
You don’t even cook/brown the oats over the stove? They wouldn’t brown and crunch up like they would in the oven then. Does it taste similar still?
Stirring them into the hot oil then letting them sit a few minutes worked well enough to crunch them up. Unexpected!
I know! You’d think my lazy kitchen brain would have thought of this years ago!
This is basically the only way I make granola. I add the sugar to the granola and let it simmer a bit first to make it nice and caramel-y and then add the oats. Love it! You can throw it in a preheated oven and immediately turn the oven off to have it dry faster.
oops — I meant add the sugar to the oil first.
I learned to make a cereal very similar to this from my husband’s mother/Peanut butter Granola. Measure 4cups quick oats into a bowl ,toss with 1/2 cup oil. Stir in 1/2 cup maple syrup, then 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, and last of all 1/2 cup chocolate chips. ..and its ready to eat! My hubby always says we’re out of food when the cereal container gets empty ?
This sounds good and sure easy enough…sending it to my daughter, she loves granola…..and I will be trying it also……
Ooh, thanks for the idea! :) I just tried a variation on this and my kids love it (they all liked it better than regular granola). I melted 1 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup peanut butter then added 8 cups rolled oats and kept stirring over heat until the oats were toasted. Removed from heat and stirred in 1/2 cup honey. When it was mostly cool I added 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Yum!
Could you use butter instead of coconut oil?
Argh, I just ran out of rolled oats (I made freezable baked oatmeal this morning), but I am totally doing this! My granola canister has been sitting empty and mocking me for far too long!
Yes, definitely!
I tried making this but added a little honey, almonds, and cinnamon and it is amazing! Thanks for the wonderful after school snack idea!
Yay! So glad you tried it and added all the yummies to it. I’m so excited about this recipe!
Delicious! I am literally eating some now for breakfast. I incorporated some of the tips and ideas (cinnamon, peanut butter, cook till oats toast…) I added sliced almonds to toast with the oats and stirred in freeze died apple dices when I served it up. So. Good. And easy! What a nice breakfast option as we transition into colder weather.
I’m sure this is a dumb question, but can I use raw sugar instead of sucanat?
Yes, that will work just fine. Thanks for asking!
I am on a mission to get my family away from boxed cereal for breakfast, and this recipe looks like a great, easy way to give them a delicious alternative. Plus, we’re really low on the boxed stuff, and I’ve deliberately neglected to buy more….shhhh! :)
My youngest son has severe peanut and tree nut allergies. What options can I substitute for the coconut oil? thx
Butter works, or any oil that you prefer. :)
I made it with butter…really yummy and super easy. Thank you for replying.
Our power has gone out several times this winter, and we’ve mixes this up on top of the wood stove. So easy since it’s all pantry ingredients and doesn’t require much cooking. Thanks for the lovely power out breakfast idea!
I just found this after the last recipe and I have the same question..can I subsitute something else for the coconut oil?
Yes, definitely. Olive oil or even butter would work!
What is sucanat and where do you get it? I’ve read all of the comments, good ideas for this recipe, I must try it. Is this a healthy recipe?
Sucanat is “sugar cane natural” which is unrefined sugar cane. It’s a healthier option as it is sugar with some nutrients still intact! Yes, I would say this is a healthy recipe option!